Justice Ministry Holding Up Classrooms in Judea, Samaria

Human Rights group furious with Deputy Attorney General for delaying building of 23 classrooms.

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Gil Ronen, 04/08/10 20:32 | updated: 20:30

Judea and Samaria scene (file)

Israel news photo: file

The Organization for Human Rights in Judea and Samaria responded furiously to a decision by the Deputy Attorney General, Attorney Mike Blass, to postpone the construction of new school classrooms in Jewish communities of Judea and Samaria. The group called on Justice Minister Yaakov Ne'eman to “clean out the stables in the State Prosecution and immediately dismiss Attorney Mike Blass, whose hostility to the settlers knows no bounds, and does not even stop at the doors of schools and kindergartens.”

Defense Minister Ehud Barak, who is responsible for enforcing the construction freeze, has approved the allocation of 23 transportable structures for 23 classrooms throughout Judea and Samaria.

The not-for-profit organization noted that Barak has approved the principle of “a classroom for every child” in Judea and Samaria. It added that “if the Israeli children who reside in Judea and Samaria do not receive a roof over their heads by the opening of the school year, the leftist senior bureaucrats in the Justice Department will be setting a new record for running the state instead of the elected officials.”

Knesset Education Committee Chairman MK Zevulun Orlev said he was “shocked” to hear that the Justice Department was still delaying its approval of the structures. MK Orlev informed the Justice Ministry of his insistence that it immediately approve all of the transportable structures that the Ministry of Education determined were necessary for the schoolchildren.

Attorney Mike Blass told MK Orlev that he is well aware of the needs and that a meeting between the Justice Ministry and the Ministry of Education will therefore be held Sunday, in order to “make a special effort and find solutions that will enable the issuing of permits soon.”